Process of winding balls



Sept. 25, 1934. A. F. PYM

v PROCESS OF WINDING BALLS Filed March 30, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l w/ X Z 4 2 Sept. 25, 1934.

A. F. PYM

Y PROCESS OF WINDING BALLS Filed March so, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 6.

Patented Sept. 25, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,974,508 I PROCESS OF WINDING BALLS Arthur F. Pym, Beach Bluff, Mass., assignor to Sibley-Pym Corporation, Lynn,

Mass., a cor- This invention relates to the manufacture of cores for golf balls and similar wound articles. In one aspect it consists in a novel process of producing a core in the construction of which elastic threads of differentsizes or quality are employed.

It is the practice in the manufacture of golf ball cores, particularly those having a core center of soft rubber or a liquid-filled center, to employ a relatively wide elastic thread or ribbon in the inner windings of the core and to employ a fine elastic thread only in the outer windings thereof. The wide thread serves to confine or bind the core center so that its surface is maintained smoothly as a true sphere without being indented or otherwise distorted, as is sometimes the case if a, fine thread is wound under tension thereon. Moreover, the wide thread builds up quickly in the winding operation, thus reducing the cost of manufacturing the core, and if the use of the wide thread is restricted to the inner turns of the core its resiliency as a whole is not adversely affected. On the other hand, it is important to form the outer portion of the core of a'relatively fine elastic thread since in this way a more resilient mass may be formed and it is the structure of the outer part of the core which is the controlling factor in determining the resiliency of the ball. From a manufacturing standpoint, it is also desirable to have the outer winding of the core composed of finer thread as this tends to improve the bond between the core and the molded shell of the ball.

Heretofore, it has been the commercial practice to divide the winding operation into separate steps, winding the inner portion of the core up to a predetermined diameter of the wide or ribbon thread, then stopping the winding process, fastening off the end of the wide thread, and then initiating a new winding step to complete the core and bring it up to a finished size with the fine thread. It has thus been necessary to handle each core twice, to start an elastic thread two different times upon the core, and to fasten off both threads separately. There is also a constant danger of losing the end of the inner winding before it is enclosed by the outer winding.

In one aspect, the present invention consists in a process of winding resilient cores which is characterized by continuously rotating a spherical center and winding thereon as a continuous operation two dissimilar elastic threads, governing the length of each as desired, that is to say, winding first a wide elastic thread alone and then a fine elastic thread alone, or overlapping the winding of the two threads throughout any predetermined zone in the body of the core. As already pointed out, it is desirable to include a wide elastic thread in the inner windings of the core and to employ a fine elastic thread only in the outer windings of the core. In accordance with the novel process of my invention, the inner windings may be formed of the wide elastic thread alone or they may be formed of the wide and fine elastic threads wound simultaneously and, under these circumstances, the use of the wide elastic thread may be terminated at any desired point as the diameter of the core increases and the winding operation completed with the fine thread alone.

I have discovered that a satisfactory and desirable core may be produced by employing in the inner windings thereof a wide elastic thread upon which is superposed a fine elastic thread. In another aspect, accordingly, my invention comprises a process of winding resilient cores which is characterized by forming the inner windings of superposed elastic threads. In a structure produced in this manner, the soft core center is adequately and smoothly confined by the superposed threads since the wide thread is fully effective for this purpose, and the core is built up at an even faster rate than when the wide elastic thread alone is employed, which is, of course, advantageous from the standpoint of economy in manufacture. I have found that it is entirely practical to cut the wide elastic thread during the winding operation without interrupting the process and without the necessity for fastening the end of the wide thread except by enclosing it in the outer windings'of the fine thread. In still another aspect, therefore, the present invention comprises a process of winding resilient cores which is characterized by initiating the winding operation with a plurality of elastic threads, cutting one thread, and completing the winding operation with the thread which is unsevered.

The use of superposed threads in the construcv filed January 10, 1931, equipped with mechanism for carrying out the process under two plans or schedules of winding.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of such a machine equipped with mechanism for winding a core having its inner turns made up of superposed elastic threads and its outer turns of a single fine thread;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective, on an enlarged scale, of the winding mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the core as it is wound in the initial stage;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the core as it is wound in the final stage;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the machine equipped for winding a core in which the inner turns are formed by a wide elastic thread only; and

Fig. 6 is a view of the core as it appears shortly after the transition has been made from wide to line thread.

In the accompanying drawings only such parts of the machine are illustrated as may be necessary for an understanding of the winding operation. For further details of mechanical construction, reference may be had to my earlier application above identified. The core center 15 to be wound is supported upon and rotated by a yielding endless belt 16 and is yieldingly engaged by a freely rotating detector disk 18. The rim of the disk 18 is convex in cross section and enages the upper side of the core at a single predetermined point or small area with an appreciable degree of pressure. The endless belt 16 runs upon a driven roller 14 and an idle roller 12 which are mounted on shafts which project outwardly from the machine frame 10. The detector disk 18 is mounted in the free end of an arm 20 which is lifted by the action of the core upon a detector disk during the winding operation and which is lowered by its own weight to engage the periphery of a new core center preliminarily to each winding operation.

The wide elastic thread 22 which is utilized in the inner windings of the core is supplied to the machine from a reel, not shown, and is directed to the rotating core center by a series of suitably located guide rolls 24, 26, 28 and so. By the uide roll 30 it is directed to the core center 15 at a point adjacent to the lower side of its circumference, so that it passes in between the surface of the driving belt 16 and the core itself. The tension of the wide elastic thread may be suitably controlled by tension mechanism, not shown.

The fine elastic thread 32 also passes to the machine from a suitable supply reel and is directed to the rotary core by passing about the roll 34 of a tension device and a guide roll 36 which directs the fine thread to the core in aposltion superposed symmetrically upon the wide elastic thread 22, as well shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In winding the core shown, the ends of both threads are brought together and started simultaneously and the initial step may be continued in this fashion up to any predetermined diameter of core.

One suitable form of mechanism will now be described for cutting the wide elastic thread without interrupting the winding operation. As shown in Figs. land 2, the frame 10 of the machine is provided with a casing 40 having an inclined passage therein through which the wide elastic thread 22 is conducted in passing from the guide roll 28 to the guide roll 30. Within the casing 40 is mounted a horizontally movable plunger 42 carrying at its inner end a knife 44. A compression spring 43 tends always to move the plunger 42 toward the right, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, to a position in which the knife 44 will engage and sever the moving thread. A resetting lever 46 is pivotally mounted within the casin 40. This is in the form of a bell crank lever having one arm which extends upwardly into engagement with an extension on the plunger 42 and another arm which extends horizontally and is perforated to receive a vertically movable rod 52 which is connected at its upper end to the detector arm 20. The rod 52 carries an adjustable stop nut 56 and this is arranged to engage the resetting lever 46 when the arm 20 is lowered into initial position and to rock the resettinglever in a counter clockwise direction, forcing the plunger 42 toward the left against the compression of the spring 43. A vertically movable latch piece 48 engages the plunger 42 and holds it in inoperative position during the first portion of the winding operation. The rod 52 passes downwardly through a perforated tripping arm 50 which is arranged to engage and lift the latch 48 at the proper time in the cycle of the machine. For this purpose the rod 52 is provided at its lower end with an adjustable stop 54. It will be apparent that as the detector arm 20 is swung upwardly as the wound core builds up in di= ameter, the stop 54 will be brought into engagement with the tripping arm 50 and will swing the latter upwardly so that it lifts the latch 48, releasing the plunger 42.

It will be apparent that in carrying out the process of my invention with the assistance of the mechanism above described, the winding operation is carried out smoothly and continuously without interruption from start to finish. As already explained, in initiating the winding operation the operator will arrange the ends of both threads in superposed relation and give them a few turns about the core center 15, at the same time placing the latter in winding position upon the belt 16 with the detector disk in contact therewith and the detector arm 20in its lowermost position. The knife 44 is latched in its inoperative position at this time. The machine is then started and the winding operation progresses with both threads located as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, that is, with the hue thread 32 located symmetrically upon the surface of the wide thread 22. The inner portion of the core is wound in this fashion and it is built up in diameter to the desired predetermined size, as determined by the setting of the adjustable stop 54. At this point the plunger 42-is tripped and the knife 44 shot into contact with the wide thread 22, instantly severing the latter in its pas-' sage through the casing 40. However, no interruption occurs in the passage of the fine thread 32. The severed endof the wide thread is at oncev carried into the rotating core and is immediately wound in and fastened off by being enclosed in the turns of the fine thread 32. Fig. 4 is designed to represent this condition. the end of the wide thread 22 being shown as already covered and held by one turn of fine thread 32. The winding operation continues with the fine thread alone until the core reaches its finished size, whereupon the machine is automatically stopped by mechanism which forms no part of the present invention but which is fully illustrated in my prior application, above identified. The completed core is then removed from the machine and the end of. the fine thread fastened. It will be seen that by following the process above disclosed the operator is relieved of giving any attention tothe core between the step of initiating the winding operation with the superposed threads and the step of fastening the end of the fine thread in the completed core.

In some cases it is preferred to utilize the wide thread alone in the inner windings of the core or, in other Words, to reduce to a minimum the windings in which the wide and fine threads are simultaneously wound. I have shown the same machine equipped for winding in this fashion in Fig. 5 of the drawings. In this figure, the core is designated by reference character 115 and the mechanism for supporting and rotating the core and directing both threads thereto is similar to that already described. In this instance, however, a holder is provided for the end of the fine thread 32 in the form of an arm 60 pivoted to the machine frame 10 and having a projecting pin ,62 which supports the end of the fine thread 32 in a position adjacent to the core 115 and above the path of the wide thread 22 as it passes from the guide roll 32 to the core. A tension spring 64 tends normally to swing the holder so as to carry the end of the, fine thread into contact with the surface of the traveling wide thread 22 and a pivoted latch 66 is provided which maintains the holder 60 in its initial position, as shown in Fig. 5. The latch 66 is perforated to receive a vertical rod 68 pivotally connected at its upper end to the detector arm 20 and having an adjustable stop 70 at its lower end. A resetting in 72 extends downwardly from the detector arm 20 in position to engage and rock the holder 60 in a clockwise direction into its latched position when the detector arm 20 is lowered preparatory to the winding operation.

In carrying out the process of my invention in this alternative fashion, the winding operation is initiated with the wide thread 22 alone and carried to the desired predetermined diameter of the core. When this is reached, the latch 66 is released by the stop 70 and the holder 60 rocked so as to bring the end of the fine thread 32 into contact with or closely adjacent to the moving wide thread 22. When this occurs, the end of the fine thread 32 is at once carried into the rotating core either by the action of the wide thread as a conveyor or by the draft which is created by the moving parts. In any case, the end of the fine thread is caught into the windings and the fine thread is utilized to complete the core. Immediately after the end of the fine thread has been picked up in the winding operation, the plunger 42 is tripped and the wide thread severed. The exact sequence of these operations may be accurately determined by setting the adjustable stops 54 and '70 and, while it is desirable that a short overlapping of the two threads should occur, in practice this'may be reduced to a very few turns.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1; The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by initiating the winding operation with a plurality of elastic threads, and completing the-winding operation with a single thread.

2. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by initiating the winding operation with a plurality of elastic threads, cutting one thread, and completing the winding operation with a thread which is unsevered.

3. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by initiating the winding operation with a wide and a narrow elastic thread, cutting the wide thread, and completing the winding operation with the narrow thread.

4. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously revolving the core and while so re-' volving it forming the inner windings of the core from a coarse elastic thread, and then, when the core has reached a predetermined diameter, and while it is in motion, automatically bringing in a fine thread to complete the winding.

5. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously revolving and simultaneously winding the core in a continuous uninterrupted maner, employing a coarse elastic thread in the inner windings and a fine elastic thread in the outer windings only.

6. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously revolving and simultaneously wind ing a wide elastic thread flatwi'se upon a spherical center until the core reaches a predetermined diameter, and then, withoutinterrupting the winding operation or bringing the core to rest, completing the core with a fine elastic thread.

7. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by winding superposed elastic threads simultaneously turn by turn upon a spherical center.

8. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by winding upon a spherical center a fine elastic thread superposed upon a wide, ribbon-like elastic thread.

9. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by forming the individual inner windings of superposed elastic threads delivered simultaneously to the core.

10. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by enveloping a spherical rubber center within a composite winding comprising a ribbon-like elastic thread laid flatwise on the center and a fine elastic. thread disposed symmetrically upon the ribbon-like thread.

11. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously rotating a spherical center and leading thereto a wide elastic thread to be wound thereon, holding the end of a fine elastic thread adjacent to the rotating core, and then, when the core reaches a predetermined diameter, cutting the wide thread and moving the end of the fine thread into contact with the rotating core to wind the same thereon.

12. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously rotating a frozen, liquid-filled rubber core center and winding fiatwise thereon a fiat elastic thread which serves to maintain the center in shape when thawed and softened, meanwhile holding the end of a fine elastic thread near the core being so wound, and then, when the core reaches a predetermined diameter, moving the end of the fine thread so that it is caught by the rotating core.

13. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously rotating a spherical center and leading a wide elastic thread to be wound thereon, holding the end of a fine elastic thread adjacent thereto, and, when the core reaches a predetermined diameter, bringing the fine thread into engagement with the moving wide thread so that the fine thread is carried to the core and wound thereon.

14. The process of winding resilient cores for golf balls and the like, which is characterized by continuously rotating a spherical core center, and leading thereto first a wide elastic thread and then a fine elastic thread, and overlapping the time of winding the respective threads.

15. The process of winding resilient cores for and the periphery of the core as the latter is rotated thereby.

- ARTHUR F. PYM. 

